Free Cheese was a Flint/Lansing, MI area band that toured Michigan and the midwest on the punk circuit in early 1983.

Blair Jones - vocals
Keith Fleetwood - drums, vocals
Brad Morley - bass, keyboards
Mikal Thomas - guitar

It is interesting to note that Brad Morley played bass via keyboards instead of the usual stringed instrument-an innovative choice in 1982(and today).




*"Dance Jambo" is actually played by Crüx Änsàta (the track was included on the original Free Cheese demo tape). http://www.archive.org/details/CruxAnsata

The final track is the drummer Keith Fleetwood's 2007 homage to his former band. Performed as 'Fixtion'.

"In September 1981, I transferred from UM-Flint to that other university in Lansing. Brad and Rose and Blair were also moving to Lansing, and they asked me play in a hardcore punk band. I said okay if I could play drums. I don't know how they found guitarist Mikal Thomas, but Free Cheese was born, named for the cheap cheese the Reagan administration was handing out. Brad was more of a pianist that a bass player, so we got the idea he would do the bass lines on keys (not the norm for hardcore, but it worked).

We played and toured all over the Mid-West, to growing fans. Our band names were Scott Free (Blair), O.B. Morbid (Brad), I was Keith L'Rain, and Mike was just Mikal. We played at the "Yufa Cough Club" in Columbus Ohio, and kids went nuts for us. They brought some of the free cheese to the club (it could actually bounce!). My brother had gotten electric guitar for $20 bucks for me to smash during a concert, and this seemed the perfect time. Initially when I suggested the idea to Scott Lewanowicz of the band Zudd, he said, "No, don't smash it..." but upon close examination of the instrument, he handed it back saying, "Yeah, go ahead and smash it." Blair Jones did the honors, working himself into a frenzy of punk youth angst. He smashed the hell out of that guitar to the enthusiastic delight of the cheering audience.

I lived in the basement of the home of Gus Varner (guitarist for The Crucif*cks), and he and Doc Dart helped us get gigs, and a phone call from Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedy's. We played mostly in Ohio and Kentucky. (We gigged with Faith No More)

Gus had an old 4-track reel-to-reel that he let us borrow and we spent some time learning to record. 11 months after we started I transferred back to UofM-Flint, and Mikal went off to Europe."

- Keith Fleetwood (http://www.pi-hs.com/Originals/mymusic.htm)


This is part of the Flint Underground Music Archive
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